BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

Ed Watson is E.J. Ourso professor of Business Analysis in the department of Information Systems and Decision Sciences at Louisiana State University, USA. He serves also as director of the Enterprise Systems and Process Performance Program at LSU. Through 2002, Ed reported to SAP America as Manager of the University Alliance Program for the US. At this capacity he has been involved with developing plans for integrating SAP ERP and E-Business solutions into Business and Engineering programs, as well as pursuing research and outreach opportunities for the academic membership. Dr. Watson's doctoral and master's degrees are in Industrial Engineering from Penn State, and his BS in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research is from Syracuse University. He has published articles in various academic journals such as Decision Sciences, Decision Support Systems, IEEE on Computers, International Journal of Production Research, and Interfaces. He had been involved with AIS, DSI, INFORMS, and POMS.

Sylvia Vaught graduated from Louisiana State University with a BS in Physics. She began working for Louisiana State Government, USA, as a computer programmer, and except for a three and one half year stint with Texas Instruments in Dallas, has been working in data processing for the same agency, the Office of Information Services (OIS), Division of Administration, for 27 years. Sylvia became director of OIS in 1982 and the state project director for the Integrated Statewide Information Systems (ISIS) project in January, 1994. As ISIS Project Director she was responsible for the State's overall implementation of all ISIS systems: AGPS (Purchasing), GFS/AFS (Financial); BDS Capital Outlay and Human Resources (SAP) in conjunction with the consultant business partners. In July 2001, she became director of the newly reorganized OIS and is responsible for all application services for the Division of Administration, including the Louisiana State Government enterprise applications.

Dan Gutierrez graduated from Louisiana State University in 1989 with a BS in Industrial Engineering. He began his career at Andersen Consulting working there for five years, the last two with the SAP Competency Group. In 1995, Dan left Andersen to work for DSM Copolymer as the Systems Development Manager responsible for implementing SAP R/3. In 1995 while at DSM, Dan helped to create Holland Technology Group, a new SAP Consulting firm. Dan then helped build Holland Technology Group into a 100-person consulting firm filling roles of project manager, business developer, solution architect and consulting director. In 1999, Nichols Research purchased Holland Technology Group to form Nichols Holland. Later in 1999, Nichols Research merged into CSC and Dan became a partner in the Global SAP practice focused on delivering large programs in the Chemical and Public Sector industries. In addition to the role of program manager for the State of Louisiana, USA, SAP HR/Payroll Implementation, Dan has played key roles in SAP implementations at the following clients: US Department of Energy - Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Uniroyal Chemical, US Postal Service. Currently, Dan is the deputy program manager responsible for Solution Development on the Wholesale Logistics Modernization Program (WLMP) for the US Army (http://www.wlmp.com).

Dan Rinks is a professor of Operations Management in the Information Systems and Decision Sciences Department at Louisiana State University, USA. He earned his PhD in Business Administration (Quantitative Management Science) at the University of Houston. Dr. Rinks is a member of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS), the Decision Sciences Institute (DSI), and the Production and Operations Management Society (POMS). His teaching/research areas include production planning and scheduling, supply chain management, project management, and operations strategy. His research has been published in Management Science, European Journal of Operational Research, Transportation Research, International Journal of Production Economics, Journal of Quality Technology, Journal of the Operational Research Society, as well as other journals.